10 Ways to Reuse and Recycle your Web Content

Today I want to discuss an online business tactic I’ve been using for years. This is one of those methods, if followed closely, will help you get the best results from the least amount of work. To start off, I’d like to make a confession…

I don’t like to work very hard.

Yes, I know. This goes against what I’ve said in a lot of other posts. Work hard, try harder, and increase your productivity. All of these are great pieces of the advice. But the sad fact is I’m a pretty lazy person. (My seven month trip through Europe definitely demonstrates this attitude.)

However, you can’t be lazy and still have a successful online business. In fact, I guarantee you’ll fail if you’re not willing to put forth some effort. The one thing I’ve learned over the last few years is to take advantage of my natural laziness. Instead of working harder, I’ve learned to work smarter.

In this post, I’m going to reveal a technique that’s helped me build a successful Internet marketing business – While eliminating the amount of time spent on “work.” So let’s talk about this technique and then discuss 10 different methods for using it. You’re gonna love this one:

Introducing “The Leverage Mindset”

I’m a firm believer in what’s called the leverage mindset. This concept means is focusing on maximizing the activities that get results.

For instance, it’s a good use of your time to spend an hour writing an email that produces $1000 in sales. But it’s a bad use of your time if you spend 5 hours submitting an article to no-name directories that produce only a handful of web visitors.

The core principle behind leverage is the idea of time.The only true limited resource we have in life is TIME. This means the time spent on your online business should produce the maximum amount of results. Don’t waste time spinning your wheels. Instead, look for unique ways to take what you’ve created and repackage it. Here’s what I mean…

The Importance of Leveraging Your Existing Content

As Internet marketers we’re in the business of providing quality content to people visiting our websites. It’s the things we write (or record) that keeps people coming back for more. I say instead of using a piece of content one time, we look for different ways to recycle and reuse it.

I consider every bit of content to be my personal asset. When completing an article, I know this is a valuable piece of property because it can be reused in a number of different ways. As mentioned before, I’m fairly lazy person at heart. The way I figure things is I’ve already spent an hour (or hours) creating something unique, so I might as well maximize the results I get from this asset.

To illustrate this concept, I’ve included 10 ways you can recycle the content you’ve created:

Recycle Method #1- Create as a Blog Post

Okay this is an obvious one. The first use for content is to post it on your blog. The important thing with a blog post is to always include a few anecdotes. Since blogs are personal in nature, it’s important to discuss your experiences with the topic you’re discussing.

To really maximize things, you can add an image that graphically represents the topic at hand. Or you could even find a related video on YouTube that’ll help create a specific emotion.

To be perfectly honest, there are a couple of posts on this site that’s been recycled from other sources (Including this post.) All that’s been changed is the wording and the addition of a few stories from my experiences. Then magically, I have a blog post that’s full of what I consider to be useful content.

Recycle Method #2- Guest Posting

Okay, it’s time for the second confession. This post was originally part of the training that I gave to affiliates for my information product. Yes, it’s been completely rewritten from the original version. However the original thoughts and layout have remained the same.

Furthermore at one point this post was on another blog. While I’ve rewritten a lot of the content, one of its original versions was as a two part guest post series. A great way to recycle your content is to reuse it as a guest post for another site. But with that said, it’s important to remember one thing—Make it original.

It’s an honor to have someone let you post an article on their site. But the quickest way to break this trust is give them an article that’s been used somewhere else. The secret is to take the core concept of what’s discussed and change it around.

For instance, let’s say you wrote an article about weight loss. You could change around this piece of content and use it as a “weight loss for the work-at home professional” guest post. All you really need to here is add a few stories about working from home and this would be perfect for a blog that discusses success.

Recycle Method #3- Ezine Articles

All online businesses need web traffic. Without an influx of visitors your online business will fail. A great technique for driving traffic is to take the content you’ve created and use it as a way to advertise your expertise.

One of the techniques I use is to take my content and turn it into an ezine article. Contrary to what you might’ve heard, web articles are still an excellent way to get visitors. By regularly submitting content to certain site like EzineArticles, you’ll develop a long-term source of web traffic. This is especially true if you use the article to get a high ranking in a popular keyword. (Something I’ve done with a lot of success in the past.)

Now I have one piece of advice before you submit your article to hundreds of different sites. Always rewrite your content—at least 30% of it. This will help you avoid the dreaded “duplicate content penalty” that Google has in place. Also I recommend looking into the Bring the Fresh site which has an excellent step-by-step plan for taking one article, spinning it, and using it to get great results for competitive keywords.

If you’re pressed for time, you could easily hire an outsourcer on Elance.com to lightly edit your content and turn it into something completely original.

Recycle Method#4- Audio Versions

A great tactic that gets massive traffic to my affiliate marketing site is to create audio versions of my content. What’s funny about this technique is most people think it’s really hard to do. In fact, all you need to do is make a recording of you, narrating the article. If the information is good enough, people won’t care if it’s a bit amateurish.

Why do I consider this to be a great tactic? Well, it’s a matter of perceived value. There are lots of blogs with excellent articles. But there aren’t many that offer audio versions of their articles. Those that do, really stand out from the crowd.

To ramp-up this method you could take all your web content and turn it into a regular series of podcasts. Submit these to the major podcast directories and you’ll build a major source of traffic to your website.

Again, creating an audio isn’t as hard as you think. (I personally hate the sound of my voice, but I LOVE the traffic I’ve received using this technique.) To get started, all you need is purchase a headset for your computer and download a free audio tool like Audacity.

Recycle Method #5- Video Marketing

Remember that audio you just created? Now you can take this audio, add a few Powerpoint slides and you have a video!

Video marketing has become the way to drive traffic to a website. The problem is many people are completely intimidated by the idea of making a video. Let me say this… you don’t have to be a professional videographer to take advantage of this technique. Most of my videos are laughably bad, but they still generate 60+ email subscribers per day. That’s pretty awesome if you ask me.

There are many options you could do with video. The obvious is to take your pre-recorded audio, add a few PowerPoint slides then use a free tool like Windows Movie Maker to create a video.

Another option is to use the free version of CamStudio to record your desktop as you demonstrate a concept. (This method is great for step-by-step tutorials.)

Like I said, video is an incredible way to add value to your content. You could easily take all your articles and turn them into clips that can be posted on a site like YouTube. Then you’ll have another major source of traffic to your website.

Recycle Method #6- Web 2.0 Backlinks

Want to get really sneaky with the content you’ve created? Well, the truth is some web 2.0 properties get a lot of “love” from Google and other search engines:

By regularly posting content on these web 2.0 properties you can build some quality backlinks to your site. As you’ve probably heard, creating backlinks to a site is a great way to improving ranking in the search engines.

A great way to use this technique is to take your content and create satellite pages. These provide lots of value while also directing them back to your main website. The one thing you should do is change around the content and make it different from what you’ve already posted.

Recycle Method #7- Autoresponders & Emails

You’ve probably heard the expression “the money is in the list.” I can honestly agree with this statement. One of the reasons I’ve had success with an online business was because I built a massive email list. The problem I’ve experience with list management is it’s hard to continuously provide subscribers with great articles.

My advice is to take your best article and posts and turn them into autoresponders. The cool thing about this technique is you can “set it and forget it.” By adding a few emails list each month to your email marketing program, readers will get great content without increasing your workload.

Furthermore, autoresponders can be a major source of revenue for your website. If you’re a little aggressive, you can tie-in an offer with each message. Simply relate your topic to one of your products OR discuss an affiliate product that solves a problem that the reader is experiencing.

Recycle Method #8- Sell as Private Label Rights (PLR)

Up till now, I’ve mentioned some ways to ways to give away your content for free. Now we’re going to shift focus and talk about different ways to get paid for the content you’ve created.

A great way to generate a side income is to offer Private Label Rights (PLR) to your content. In a nutshell, PLR is where you sell ownership of the articles to another person. In a way, you’re giving them the right to take your content and use it any way they see fit.

You make money by offering licenses to a large number of people. Just charge $1 or $2 per article and you’ll create a small income by selling content that’s been used before. The trick is to group a bunch of related articles together and offer a bundle deal. In my opinion it’s much easier to sell a collection of articles that’s tightly concentrated on one topic.

Where do you sell these articles? One of the best places to get started is The Warrior Forum. On this site, there’s a “Warrior’s Special Offer” section where you can advertise the rights to your collection of PLR content. (Sidenote: Review all the rules on this site before posting anything…It’s a large community that has a number of do’s and don’ts.)

Recycle Method #9- Bundle into a Special Report

Want to keep exclusive rights to your content while still earning a few bucks? All you need to do is take a bunch of related articles and turn them into a special report. Here’s how it works…

A lot of budding Internet Marketers think they need to create a massive ebook for their first information product. The truth is you often have more success by offering a series of small reports which solve very specific problems people are experiencing.

Special reports don’t have to be that long. I recommend a minimum of 5,000 words. This can easily be achieved with a few articles you’ve already posted. Then all you have to do is add a bit more content that’s not provided anywhere else. Then you have a special report!

So what can you do with a special report? That really depends on your business goals. Here are a few different ways to use it:

Remember, people pay lots of money for information. So even if your special report isn’t long, you can still sell lots of copies as long as you’re providing real, genuine value.

Recycle Method #10- Create an eBook

Here’s a quick story. About three years ago, I remember looking at my 400+ articles I wrote for my affiliate site and thought, “Wow, I’ve created a ton of content about my niche. What else can I do with this stuff?” The answer was simple. I grouped them together and created an information product that solved a common problem in my niche.

The cool thing was 60% of the content was already written. All I really had to do was put these articles together in a seamless format and add extra content. As you’ve heard me say before, this product now generates a couple thousand dollars each month of passive income. And I only have to work an hour a week to maintain it.

You really can do this with the content you’ve created. Eventually you’ll get to the point when you have lots of content about a particular topic. Instead of letting it grow “space dust” on your hard drive, take these articles and turn them into full-blown information product.

Like with a special report, make sure this eBook solves a problem person are experiencing. It’s sad to say, but I’ve seen a number of info product owners who provide zero value. Then they wonder why they’re not making much money. Kind of sad if you ask me.

Final Thoughts on Leveraging Content

Well, we covered a lot about leveraging content. As I mentioned in the introduction, this is one of those techniques that’s brought a ton of results to my online business. Hopefully you’ll find the same.

The important thing to remember is to always look for different ways to reuse what you write. I believe in the principle of working smarter, not harder. Recycling content is definitely a creative way to maximize the results you receive. What do you think?

I am all for working smarter and getting double or triple the results for the effort I put in. Hence leveraging content is right up my alley.

I personally think it is great if we could leverage the content in the way you have described. 10 ways to reshape and change one’s content should ensure an endless stream of ideas.

Sometimes, we may not have pitched our original content in the right way. Or over time, we gain more experience and deeper insights into something we have dealt with before. Coming back to the content to enhance and do a better job not only deepens a reader’s understanding, but you also don’t have to break your back over it.

Thanks for opening my eyes with regards to leveraging content. This is an article I will refer to regularly for the great ideas you have shared.

Just because you are recycling the basic idea doesn’t mean that your viewpoint may not have shifted some and/or you may have a lot of good fresh information to add since the original release of the information.

Fresh rewrites do mean fresh eyes.

Fran Aslam

Hi Steve:

Wow You are a master of content writing and this post is a good example of it. I am for
working smarter, but by nature I am a very detailed and time taking person, why because I look for perfection and exceptional expression. I have to focus and direct myself to be smarter, that that takes extra effort.

Your post is a contents full post, every word of it is focused. Ebook idea is great. I must follow it. Now I have almost 300 articles on line and the same amount written for others. Well the last is with exclusive rights, so I should say 300 articles, So I should do something about it.

Fran, yeah with 300 articles you should be able to find enough that run to a “theme” that with a rewrite, some additional information and a connective, “flow” you should easily be able to create a lead magnet or special report.

One thing I learned from the workshops Ive been running is that people find it difficult to come up with topics to write about, so if you take into account the agonizing over topics, the time taken to write, the knowledge in each useful post, then content is a truly valuable commodity.

That must make this post one of the most valuable around. I find that when I come back to my own content the fact that time has passed and I’ve learned more, means I always want to rewrite some of it anyway, but the great thing is to be able to reuse the idea.

One other way to recycle, for those who have web stores, is to turn the blog post or ezine article into an information page on your store and link it to some products. You get an opportunity to showcase products in a different way perhaps by comparing different models or simply by adding more and different pictures. You can use case studies or problem solving articles in the same way.

Very true about turning it into a page of content on your online store, niche site, etc. That is another great way.

Things also can go in reverse too. I have had some ideas I touched on (usually lightly) for an ezinearticle or content page that I greatly expand and grow for a content post.

I do believe in a way there are a finite amount of posts out for each subject. EVery truly original separate idea has a few permutations of ways to attack it, but ultimately you have to at least tread on part of the ground you have used before.

I’m big on leveraging. The gift of life is time and the more time you have to do whatever you want to do with it, the better. It’s not necessary to make things harder on yourself. If you are in love with working hard, you won’t get ahead because them successful people work very smartly. They leverage like mad to expand their presence.

You are absolutely right on the importance of time. Few of us should waste it. Working hard is great. Working smart is great. But when you can both work hard and work smart, you really got something going.

I havent really done it much for this site…really barely done any videos at all. But I have done a lot of recycling for video on my niche sites. It really is a good way, as you alsmot always hit a different audience.

Of all the methods listed my top ones are 9 and 10. Not that I have something against others, I use all of them, but the best success I’ve had is when I bundle my articles and blog posts in to an ebook or a report, you get a great number of subscribers for the content you already have posted on your blog, so I just have to love it

I agree, when you have written A LOT on a single topic, a SR/eBook is really attractive. Even if it is simply bundled with others as part of a pot sweetener offer, it is great extra content that could be the difference between a slae and no sale…or getting that email as a lead magnet.

Murlu

Dangit Steve! I can’t disagree on you this because this is absolutely boss.

One problem though: why do we think so similar! I’ve actually been working on an ebook that goes into these things – may turn it into a full video course – it’s a bit wider in scope but this is essentially the backbone of it haha.

However, you’ve got me thinking – mention this to Gene if possible too – do you think we can sell our Helium articles on Warrior Forum as PLR even though they’ve been published once before? We still have ownership of them, ya know.

That is a good question. Interesting idea. I would have to say that I guess you could. You own rights after all, it doesn’t matter if it has been published 1 million times as long as you own rights. But if it was advertised that way i don’t know if people would want to buy.

I have actually never sold anything as PLR, I just know it is something that CAN be done.

Wow, this is a very excellent post! I love what you said about creating reports, ebooks, and guest posts. It takes just a little tweeking and we have a brand new article. In regards to article directories like ezines, I personally submit each article that I write to 3 article directories, ezines, article base, and selfgrowth.com. I have never thought about changing the content a little for each one, maybe I should start doing that.

In regards to making videos, this is a great idea and the top successful blogs really do have videos. I’m thinking about making videos seriously.

Something can be said for the SPEED of not changing anything. But you can get some benefit form quick changes. Mainly changing Title and first and last paragraphs can be useful. (maybe a little from body)

There is not “penalty” for duplicate articles, but your back-links may get discounted from later articles if they are considered duplicate by Google. (though humans will still follow them of course).

Michael

I agree. There is no such thing as a Google Duplicate Content Penalty. Myth.

Repurposing articles is something I’ve only recently began doing, but you have provided a ton of great ideas for getting additional traffic and income from them. Having recently shifted topics a bit, I’ve been scouring the archives and giving what I can a tuneup to bring them more in line with today’s direction.

It’s also a good idea to go back through your archives anyhow. I’ve found that what you may have written last year could 1, be updated a bit and 2, be improved upon in it’s overall quality.

I do plan to weave some articles into an ebook soon to give away to subscribers, but much of what you listed here had not come to mind. Heck man, don’t we have enough to do already? LOL

This is all really exciting though, and we all know that success is reserved fr the action takers.

Haha…It does seem to be a lot. I can tell you I certainly do not have the time to DO EVERYTHING I give as options. But that is why they are options. Different people will have ways they prefer for their content.

The important thing is that you save yourself some time and do ‘something’ with old content (updated and recycled of course). YOu worked hard on it and hopefully it is damn good, there is nothing wrong with attempting to get more people to enjoy it…and do something for yourself too.

Definitely looking forward to hearing more about the eBook you are planning!

And don’t forget about creating free eclasses too (which would slant off of your autoresponder idea).

One other important idea is to have a followup link on all of the repurposed content – ie, at the footer of your ebooks or the closure of your videos etc., have a special ‘What’s next?” link that draws people to the next step you want them to do. Works great!

Great post Scott! I actually just wrote a similar post not too long ago, or maybe it was an email I wrote, recycling content is a huge thing for content marketers. People who are hungry for answers will often need to re-read the same thing over and over again before they actually get it.

One of our jobs is to give that same content to them in as many of ways as possible.

I recently told a person who came to me for advice, that the true strength and purpose of the entrepreneur is to be the creator of ideas, the bringer of innovations, once the idea is made they use their ability to leverage other peoples’ skills and time to bring those ideas from thought to reality.

That definitely is the ultimate goal. Get the ideas out there. Create a system and automate and outsource when and where it is possible. IN the long run this is the only way that a business is scalable.

You don’t want the SAME people to ever read the same stuff, but if you can work it so that a slightly refreshed copy goes out to a different group of people that is a great goal. Or if the information is stale a significantly rewritten and updated version to all sundry.

Hey Steve, awesome list of ways to recycle your content. It still is a lot of work but not as much as creating new content for each item you posted above. I’m only doing a few of these right now and this is great motivation to get off my butt and create more content and traffic opportunities the easy way.

That was a lengthy one :), but it had some great tips in it.
I know a blog post about some telling not to write good but to write fast. on the concept that content is king, and he suggested the same thing, to get inspiration from ezine, and other blog posts to create your own.
About web 2.0, I think now you need a subscription to have a ning network and I never heard of wetpaint and I really don’t know how you could use it unless you are talking about their mini-wikies.
Doing PLR’s, video,audio and getting your content into an eBook is not only a great way to recycle your content but is also a good way to make some passive income :D.

My finding this post is also a great example about of a how a tweet about an older article can produce traffic. When I saw the compelling title in a recent tweet, it caught my attention. Very useful advice, and it certainly has not become the least bit dated in the 6 weeks since it was published.

I publish a lot of web content myself and I was curious if you have ever ran into issues with duplicate content. I have found it necessary to completely rewrite content and switch around wording if i am going to have it posted twice or else the links just have no impact.

I am very guilty of not recycling my content enough at all… I have even written full ebooks (been selling them for years) and have stolen the occasional blog post from them….Basically I did things backwards but I do have a truck load of content to play with now.

Now I have gather related stuff together to form free reports which I simply send to my list to bring them back to my blog, registering a hit, and always leading to a blog post with some kind of monetization.

I definitely need to use more of your tips to reuse my content as to use it once is a crime!

Great article, Steve. Reading it made me realise I’ve got a lot of leverage sitting around on various hard drives and that I could definitely use some of these strategies to save me some time and get more visitors/subscribers.

Cheers,
Ray

Cool_rishi

Hi steve ,

i am novice in this field, i want to learn some affiliate linings to learn how to earn that thousands of dollars, could you please tell me how to proceed with?

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